Raed Arafat

A fire at a fueling station in Romania caused an explosion that killed at least one person and injured at least eight others Saturday, prompting an evacuation of the immediate area, authorities said.

A second explosion at the station injured at least 26 firefighters, emergency officials said.

Romania's Interior Minister Lucian Bode said on Monday that situations such as the one that Greece faced this summer compelled state officials to make decisions immediately, and that improving emergency response is an item that will feature prominently on the European agenda.

Under a EU-funded cross-border project for the improvement of the training and response capacity of professional emergency services, the Mobile Emergency Resuscitation and Extrication Service (SMURD) included, the safety and protection of the population in the region of Moldova and the Republic of Moldova will increase.

One of the injured in Friday's explosion at Petromidia who sustained burns on 45% of the body has been flown by a SMURD Constanta rescue helicopter to the Floreasca Hospital in Bucharest, and the SMURD Bucharest helicopter left for Constanta to take over a second injured, with burns on 25% of the body, senior emergency management official Raed Arafat said on Friday.

A Mobile Emergency Response Training Centre, purchased by the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), has been made available to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU). The centre is made as a semi-trailer, being completely autonomous.

Head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, announced today that three new mountain response bases will be created following the purchase, through the 'Vision 2020' project, of six light helicopters, three of which were handed over today.

Interim PM Nicolae Ciuca stated that the Government will analyse the decision draft based on which the state of alert will be extended by 30 days, underscoring that the news saying Romania is about to enter lockdown are fake.

The National Emergency Management Committee (CNSU) proposes the extension of the alert state by 30 days from August 16, and a government decision in that respect will be submitted for approval to a government sitting, Head of the Emergency Management Department Raed Arafat said on Friday.

Head of the Emergency Management Department Raed Arafat said on Tuesday that the government's approval of a 30-day extension to the state of alert from June 17 was decided following a "thorough" analysis of the current COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Head of the Emergency Situations Department (DSU) Raed Arafat announced on Thursday evening that from May 15, all persons arriving in Romania, regardless of which country, will be ordered home isolation.